Eli's First Trip to Kentucky

Awhile ago we traveled to Bowling Green, Kentucky. Cody and I moved there a couple of months after we were married, and we lived there for 3 years. God really blessed us with great jobs, a great church, and great friends while we there. We frequently return to Bowling Green because Cody's orthodontist is still down there. However, this past visit to the orthodontist will be Cody's last:(

We left on a Thursday night at 7pm and drove into the wee hours of the morning. We were very busy as we visited our previous employers, spent each meal with different friends, and went to Cody's orthodontist appointment. Eli traveled very well! He slept most of the way there only to wake up to eat! He did great with so many different people holding him and missing naps here and there. On our way home we stopped in Danville, KY and visited my best friend from college, Tiffany (and Rob too:) She made us a delicious lunch and we headed home. We now realize that Eli travels great in the car, but it takes him a good 4 days to recover from such an adventure:)

Cody used to work with Brian. When we left BG Brian and Akiko only had a little girl, now they've expanded their family! Akiko's mother was visiting from Japan. It was nice to spend time with the Jenkin family!

Eli was so tired, but Rhiannon helped him feel better while her mom, Akiko, held him.
















All cozy on the pack in play changing table.
















Meeting our friend Annette for the first time.

A Zach Attack

My brother and his wife have a son named Zach. Eli enjoys spending time with Zach and Zach sure likes helping take care of Eli. Zach was spending some time over at Granddad and Nana's house, so we decided to head over to watch the Buckeyes and spend some time with Zach too!

Zach and Eli enjoy taking walks together, but since it was too late for Zach to take Eli on a stroller ride... they settle for this kind of walk instead:) (They even matched! Too cute!)

 

Laughing with Granddad

Playing with cousin Zach and cousin Cricket (the dog:) (Apparently Eli lost his pants sometime...)

To Carpet or Not to Carpet... That is the question...

Since Eli is now walking, we realize that our hardwood floors are not conducive for a tumbler. We've been pricing carpet, and are still trying to find a good deal. We've  traveled to a couple stores and Eli loves touching all of the carpet samples. Now that he's mobile it's hard to keep him contained while we're in stores and restaurants. I guess the real parenting begins now:)

Our little walker

More please mommy...

We really started teaching Eli signs around 6 months. Now at nine months, he's actually started signing back. He first signed eat at my parents house, and then the very next day, Eli signed more. He signs more alot more than eat, but he'll throw in eat every now and again:)

  

Eli says, "I'm so good I could do this in my sleep..."

Tea Time!

Ever since Eli has arrived, Cody and I have been enjoying him to the fullest. We've tried to make time for special date nights for the two of us, but with Cody going to school until 6:30 it doesn't give us much time. Also, it's hard for me to get excited about going out .Since I'm working during the day, I cherish my time with Eli in the evenings. I'm thankful I have great friends who can remind me how important it is to take time for not just Cody and I, but just myself too. (I have the typical mom guilt about taking time for myself. You know, the thoughts like, "But my house is a wreck I really should clean it instead of..." or "Eli needs me..." How easy it is to let Satan step into my thoughlife...

SOOOO.... now on to the main point of this post... I had some time away last weekend!! My dearest childhood friend, Jackie, and I went to a tea house near by and enjoy a delicious meal. Who knew I would even enjoy the tea!?

Tea Time...

The spread

It's an Eli size ramaken:)

Playing in the Park

On Tuesday, our family decided to make the most out of the beautiful weather, so we headed to the park. Sadly, we've only been to the park with Eli a handful of times. This time he had so much fun!! The swing was his favorite thing!

 Up so high!!

 Soo big!!

I love standing!

 Such a happy baby boy!

Hey! What are those big kids doing?

Up and Down

Eli decided to have some fun before his nap. All I was doing was raising up on my knees going up and down... we have such a happy baby:) He even went right to sleep after I took this video. (and yes, we've lowered his mattress since this video was taken...)

Racing with Daddy

When Cody returned from Canada, he had a couple of days to recuperate, and then we headed off to Indianapolis. Cody has been working with the United States Automotive Club (USAC). He's worked about 4 races now. He travels to the site of the race (usually Indiana). Cody performs the tech work at the races. That is, as the kids finish they're races he records the weight of the winning cars. He also has to mark all of the engines with paint to seal them. At the conclusion of the entire competition, he inspects the engines of the 1st-3rd winners of each race to ensure that there are no illegal tweaks to the engines.

Since we had been daddyless for 12 days already, we weren't ready to go daddyless again. Thankfully, USAC was willing to allow Eli and I to accompany Cody. They paid for us to stay in a hotel for a few days. Eli and I went window shopping and hung out in the hotel room while Cody worked. Then on the last day we went to the races.

Sneaking in a quick "on the job" pic with Eli

Cody meets "Goliath." The man was so big, and so nice:)



Since kids raced, their engines weren't too loud and Eli took a nap





This is one of Cody's professor's child. They go to all the races:)

While Daddy's Away We Will Play!

Cody had a great opportunity at the end of June to travel to Canada for two weeks with his dad and brothers. He was gone for 12 days at a primitive lake and was in his element. While he was gone Eli and I traveled to Cody's parents house to hang out with his mom and meet up with my sister-in-law Becky and my niece Hannah.

We had so much fun while we were there! We went garage saling, walked by the lake, visited Nana and Papal, visited Gran and Pa, and met up with a friend from camp. Here our a few pictures that highlighted our week.

Eli and Hannah were reading together!

Enjoying their first bath together.

Grandma and her grandbabies. Grandma's going to have to find more room on her lap for baby Isaac.

Eli sat in Cody's old high chair!

Enjoying cuddle time with Aunt Becky:)

Eli LOVES Hannah! He thinks she's HILARIOUS!!

There was one in the bed and the little one said...

ROLL OVER!!!:) Eli has been rolling over from his belly to his back since he was teeny tiny. (Mainly because he hated being on his belly when he was small.) We've been waiting and waiting for him to roll over from his back to his belly because when he would sleep he would roll off his tummy and not be able to go back to his tummy until we rolled him back over. When Cody was in Canada we were visiting with my sister Mel who was house sitting. While we were there Eli decided to roll over! He was 5 mo. 3 wks. when he rolled over from his back to his tummy! Yay Eli!

FirstFair, Food, and Fun

At the end of June, Cody took a 12 day fishing trip to Canada with his dad and brothers. While he was gone, Eli and I tried to stay busy to make the time go faster. My sister Mel was house sitting so we spent a couple nights with her and then we headed over to Mom and Dad's on a Saturday morning. Jeff, Kristen, and Zachary were already there, and we enjoyed a scrumptious brunch together. Then we lathered on the sunscreen and headed out to the fair. It was really warm that day, and I wondered how Eli would do in the heat, but he did really well. We walked around for a couple of hours and then it was Eli's nap time. So we got our hands stamped and headed back to the house that Mel was house sitting and enjoyed air conditioning and naps. In the evening we headed back to the fair and ate some supper. Then Eli and I headed home. What a busy, but fun day!!

Already a football fan

Dad, Zach, and Mel warmed up on the scrambler before hitting the other rides

Eli enjoyed his first flavorless snow cone! He would grimace as soon as the ice hit his tongue, but then open his mouth for more as soon as it melted.




Granddad and Eli sporting hats

What a fun day!

Eli's First Camping Trip

In June we went camping with my family. My sister is an excellent planner and reserved us a site at the KOA near the Mohican Canoe Livery. We had an excellent camp site that was in the back corner of the camp site. It was a little secluded (as much as you can be at a camp site) and we had a lake view at the back of the site. Dad and Mel went down on a Wednesday and set up their camp, and Cody and I went down on Thursday. We began to set up our tent and quickly realized how small it was now that Eli is here. Thankfully, my generous parents switched us tents so I could actually stand up in their tent!

We set up camp and ate dinner on Thursday. Then on Friday we went hiking, swimming, and Mom came up to bring dinner, and spend the night! Then we went canoeing on Saturday morning! Mom stayed at the campsite and watched Eli while Mel, Dad, Cricket (Mel's dog), Cody, and I canoed down the mighty mohican:) When we returned to the camp site we had a late lunch and Mom headed home. We enjoyed the pool one more time and watched a movie after dinner. We packed up and headed home on Sunday. (FATHER'S DAY! I'll add the post in a little bit) We had such a great time and Eli really enjoyed it!

Eli and Mel all natural

Eli enjoyed the river too!


Elias is really into textures now. He was very curious about this fish:)

Cody's new water shoes:) I love this goofy man!

Eli and Nana had fun while we were canoeing!

Eli's Dedication

Cody and I dedicated Eli to the Lord on Sunday June 13, 2010. Many people think that baby dedication is the same as baptisim. While they are both public displays to the Lord, baptism declares that a person has been saved and that they are laying down their own life and walking with the Lord in a new life. Baby dedication is when parents promise to raise their child under the Lord's authority and that the child belongs to God first.

So Cody and I dedicated Eli. It was a special time for us. Even though we would raise Eli under the Lord's authority despite dedication, it was nice to have the support of our family and church family.

My parents


Cody's parents


Our family with Pastor John

Eli lookin' fancy in his dedication outfit made by Gran (Cody's Grandma)

Playing with Silas

Before Eli was born, Cody and I would watch our little buddy Silas. Silas is our buddy from church and his parents are so generous to share him with us. We enjoy Silas so much, that Eli's full name, Elias, was as close to the name Silas as we could get!!


It was fun to watch Silas before Eli. It was kind of like Cody and I got to play house. We were able to pretend we were a family with a child. When we would go out in public I loved it that most people thought that Silas was our child! (Sometimes, I didn't even deny it:) I just lavished the thought of having kids.) Needless to say, we loved having play dates with Silas prior to Eli, but it's even more fun with Eli here! Eli absolutely adores Silas. He constantly watches Silas's every move. Thank you Walker family for sharing Silas with us:)



In this video please note:
- Eli laughing hysterically at Silas
- How cute Silas says that the ladybug is actually "Spiderman"
- Silas refers to me as Cody. Even though I coteach his Sunday school class. He still refers to both Cody and I as Cody:)

I was very surprised that Silas fit in the bumbo seat, and I think his thighs fit way better than Eli's:)

Wapak Waterpark

A couple of weeks ago we had a fun family outing to the Wapak Waterpark! We met Mom and Dad Finnegan and Seth, Becky, and Hannah for a picnic first. We enjoyed a nice rain shower while we were eating and enjoyed the fresh rain smell:) M Hannah was SOOO excited to get to the water park! When we were eating Hannah asked me, "Will you play with me Auntie Erica?" She has this great questioning tone in her voice when she asks you a question that just makes you smile. (Guess you have to hear it to understand...) Anyways, after our picnic and the brief shower we headed to the water. Fun was had by all, and we had a great family day!

Eli wasn't all about the water this time...

Hannah was ALL about the water! She is so fearless. She even tried to sneak away from her daddy to jump off the high dive, but her daddy's cat like reflexes prevented her.

Storytime with Mommy

It has been challenging and fun to think of things to do to fill our day now that I am a stay at home mom! Sure I have plenty of things I could be doing like laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc. but those are NO fun! Instead, I like to play with Eli!!:) I've read to Elias before, but lately he has been actively listening to an entire story. He likes to try to grab the pages and put them in his mouth. Therefore I discovered that reading with both of us laying on the ground works great! It saves our books from utter destruction:)

Listening to the story of God's promise to Abraham and Sarah

God promised Abraham that he would have A LOT (like there are A LOT of stars) of descendants, so we looked at A LOT of stars on the illustration of the story.




















Hey Dad, Whatcha doin'?

My First Root Beer (By accident)

Every Sunday we have a great tradition of going out to eat with Cody's parents. It is great to be close to family, and to be able to take advantage of it:) We are very blessed that Eli can be close to his grandparents so they can enjoy him! Our family sacrificially gives their time to help us with Eli weather it be free meals, free babysitting, or just hanging out... THANK YOU SO MUCH!

So back to the root beer... every Sunday we go out to eat with Cody's parents after church. This Sunday we met at the A&W Root Beer Stand... YUM!!! We all received our tall frosty glasses of root beer, and Eli was sure eyeing my frosty mug. I figured since he's teething a nice frosty mug would be great on those sore little gums. So I offered Eli my mug and he went to town. When the waitress brought out our food and saw Eli chewing away, she brought him out his own little frosty mug with root beer and all! As I was letting him chew on his mug, the root beer splashed up on his mouth... I was proud that I didn't freak out, but rather enjoyed the moment.... his little face contorted about with the sugary liquid, but quickly turned to delight. Sorry to say that's the only root beer little Eli consumed, but I'm sure the days of root beer floats for Eli will come all too quickly.

It's an Eli sized mug!





















Playing with Papa is so much fun!





















Papa's boy

A little drool goes a long way! Good thing Papa is done with his mug!